I went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], during his sufferings in which he passed away. Fāṭima [peace be on her] was sitting near his head. She began crying until her voice rose. The Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, looked up to her and asked, “My beloved Fāṭima! Why are you crying?” She replied, “I fear neglect after you.” He replied, “My beloved Fāṭima! Do you not know that Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, searched the earth thoroughly, then chose from it your father and sent him with His message.

Then, He searched the earth thoroughly and chose from it your husband. Then he revealed to me that I should marry you to him. O Fāṭima! Indeed Allah has granted us Ahl al-Bait seven characteristics that have not been given to anyone before us nor to anyone after us: I am the seal of the Prophets, the noblest of Prophets in front of Allah, the most beloved of the creatures to of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, and I am your father. My heir (waṣī) is the best of heirs and the most beloved of them to Allah and he is your husband. Our martyr is the best of martyrs and the most beloved of them to Allah and he is Ḥamzat b. `Abd al-Muṭṭalib, the (paternal) uncle of your father and the (paternal) uncle of your husband.

From us is the one who has two green wings by which he flies where he wishes in Paradise along with the angels and he is the cousin of your father and the brother of your husband. From us are the two grandsons of this nation and they are your two sons—al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn—and they are the masters of the youths of Paradise. I swear by the One Who truly sent me, their father is better than both of them. O Fāṭima! I swear by the One Who sent me with truth, surely from these two is the Mahdī of this nation.

When the world becomes engulfed in chaos and turmoil, fitnas appear, the paths are cut-off, and people will loot each other. And when there will be no elder who will have mercy on the young and there will be no young who will respect the elders. Then, Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will send from the two of them [i.e. al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn] a man who will conquer the forts of deviation and the shrouded hearts. He will rise with religion in the end of times just as I rose with it in the first era. He will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with injustice.

O Fāṭima, Don’t grieve and don’t cry, for surely, Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, is more merciful and kinder to you than me. This is because of your position to me and your [close] place to my heart. Allah has married you to your husband while he possesses the most noble lineage amongst [the members] of your family, is the most honorable of them in position, the most merciful of them with the people, the most just of them in being fair, and the most insightful of them in judgment. I asked my Lord, Mighty and Majestic be He, that you be the first to join me from my Ahl al-Bait [after my death].” `Alī, [peace be on him,] said, “When the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], passed away, Fāṭima, peace be on her, did not live after him for more than seventy-five days, and Allah, the Exalted, took her to him.”

528. Al-Amālī al-Shaykh3: In a lengthy tradition through his chains of narrators from Imam `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, which includes Jābir honoring Imam al-Ḥasan and Imam al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them . . . to where Jābir said:

One day, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, was with us in the mosque and was surrounded by the people, when he said to me, “O Jābir! Call Ḥasan and Ḥusayn for me,” and he was extremely fond of both of them. I went and called them and carried them in my arms—in turns—until I we reached him. He asked me—and I could see the joy in his face on seeing me being so affectionate towards both of them and my respect for them—“Do you love them, O Jābir?” I replied, “And what would prevent me from that while I know their stature with you, may my father and my mother be sacrificed for you?”

He said, “Should I not inform you about their virtues?” I replied, “Yes! May my parents be sacrificed for you!” He said, “When Allah, the Exalted, intended to create me, He created me as a pure white liquid (nutfa) which He placed in the loin of my father Adam, peace be on him. This liquid was continuously transferred from one pure loin to another pure womb until [it reached] Noah and Abraham, peace be on them. This continued to `Abd al-Muṭṭalib, thus, nothing from the filth of ignorance (jāhiliyya) touched me.

Then, this liquid was split into two halves: One went to `Abd-Allah and the other to Abū Ṭālib. I was born to my father [`Abd-Allah] and Allah sealed prophethood through me. `Alī was born to Abū Ṭālib and waṣiyya4 became terminated through him. These two halves—from me and `Alī—came together and resulted in the birth of al-Jahr and al-Jahīr (i.e. al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn) and through them,

He sealed the grandsons of prophethood. He placed my seed (al-dhurriya) in both of them and ordered me to conquer the city—or cities—of disbelief. From his seed—pointing to al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him—a person will emerge in the end of times. He will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. These two are the pure and purified ones. They are the masters of the youths of Paradise. Salvation is for those who love them, their father, and their mother, and woe to those who fight them and have hatred towards them.”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 94–160, 463, 464, 465, 543, 546–548, 550–571, 590, 608, 641, 770, and 786–807.

1. Dhakhā’ir al-uqbā, “Fi dhikr mā jā’a anna l-Mahdī fī ākhir al-zamān,” p. 136.
I say: The mother of Imam Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, was Fāṭima, the daughter of Imam (Ḥasan) al-Mujtabā, the older grandson. Thus, our master Imam al-Bāqir and all the seven Imams who succeeded him to Imam al-Mahdī, peace be on them, are from the generation of Imam al-Ḥasan as well as Imam al-Ḥusayn as has been mentioned by the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. This news is knowledge of the unseen and one of the signs of his prophethood.

2. Al-Mu`jam al-kabīr, vol. 3, pp. 57–58, no. 2675; Ṣifat al-Mahdī by Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim who has recorded it from him in `Iqd al-durar, chap. 7, pp. 151–153, and chap. 9, pp. 217–218, sect. 3; Majma` al-zawā’id, vol. 9, pp. 165–166; al-Bayān fī akhbār Ṣāḥib al-Zamān, chap. 1, p. 55, no. 1; Dhakhā’ir al-`uqbā, pp. 135–136. He writes, “al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū l-`Alā al-Hamdānī has recorded it in Arba`īna ḥadīthan fī l-Mahdī; Kashf al-ghumma, citing al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim in al-Aḥādīth al-arba`īn, vol. 2, p. 84, no. 403; al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 2, pp. 94–95, no. 19; `Abaqāt al-anwār (India), Under ḥadīth al-ṭair (The Tradition of the Bird), vol. 4, second minhāj, p. 86; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī), vol. 2, p. 137, shortened version citing al-Ṭabarānī in al-Mu`jam al-kabīr; al-’Idhā`a, p. 136; Usd al-ghāba, vol. 4, p. 42, has recorded a shortened version from Abū Nu`aim and Abū Mūsā and also al-’Iṣāba; al-Qaul al-mukhtaṣar, p. 27, he has recorded that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said to Fāṭima, [peace be on her], “I swear by the One Who truly sent me as a Prophet, surely, from these two (meaning al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn) is Mahdī of this umma.”
Al-Dhahabī’s rejection of this tradition in his book Mīzān al-i`tidāl is not the least surprising because he is notorious for rejecting authentic and famous traditions that glorify the Ahl al-Bait and criticize their enemies. Since this tradition is in conflict with his desires, he has judged it to be false and has accused al-Haytham but has not put forward any evidence for his accusation against al-Haytham or for his rendering it to be false; except for the fact that he cannot tolerate the merits of the Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them, which have been mentioned in it. Had this tradition been in accordance with his desires—that is, against the Ahl al-Bait and in favor of their enemies like Mu`āwiya—he would have announced it to be correct in content as well as chain of narrators and would have declared its narrators as Sunnis. Surely, we have come from Allah and to Him we will return. There is no power and strength save that of Allah, the Exalted, the Great.
As far as we are concerned, this tradition is absolutely reliable in content. There is nothing amazing in it and there are numerous traditions which support it like the narration of `Abāya from Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī and the tradition of Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī that has been recorded in Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, p. 490, citing al-Sam`ānī’s Faḍā’il al-ṣaḥāba from Abū Sa`īd. Moreover, this view is reinforced by the fact that this al-Haytham is the same al-Haytham b. Ḥabīb al-Ṣairafī al-Kūfī—the brother of `Abd al-Khāliq b. Ḥabīb— about whom Aḥmad [b. Ḥanbal] has said: “His traditions are the best and his is his steadfastness is the greatest.” It has not been proven that these two are two different people, even if ibn Ḥajar claims so. I think that when people see that they have no rational reason regarding their claims against this tradition—because it has been narrated by someone like al-Haytham, who has been praised by Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal using the words mentioned above—then they claim that there are many al-Haythams!

3. Amālī al-Shaykh, vol. 2, pp. 113–114, no. 2; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 37, pp. 44–47, chap. 50, no. 22.
I say: Perhaps, it would have been better if had I mentioned this tradition in the forthcoming chapter. Anyhow, I have recorded it here by considering the version in Biḥār al-anwār which seems to be more accurate, and Allah knows the best. It is like this: “He made my progeny in these two, and the one who will capture the city—or cities—of disbelief. He will fill the earth . . .”